


The Battle

by gladdecease



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Naruto
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-25
Updated: 2007-06-25
Packaged: 2017-10-21 03:06:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/220199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gladdecease/pseuds/gladdecease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two strong opponents meet in a battle... of the minds?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Battle

The battle had been going on for over an hour now, and a crowd had started to form. Passers-by could only wonder what sort of fight was going on, as they heard cheers and shouts from the circle around the two warriors.

The older of the two frowned thoughtfully. One wrong move at this point could cost him everything. All of the power he had gained was on the line; his military strength and tactical ability being measured against his opponent's.

The boy was an incredibly tactician, though years younger than his own nephew (who was barely an adult as it was). Unlike most of his battles of this kind, he was not entirely confident in his victory.

The crowd, which had been jeering and shouting to distract him, held their collective breath as he moved to attack.

Their attention immediately turned to his opponent. It was clear on his face that the end was coming - whether it was in his favor or not depended on this final attack.

The boy slumped in his chair and concentrated, thinking through every move he had foreseen, every action he had predicted. What would follow that last attack?

With a jolt of movement, he snapped open his eyes and attacked.

"Tsumi." Half of the crowd groaned as one, seeing that their favored player had lost. The other half cheered and celebrated their victory (and the money they had won in bets over the game).

The players eyed each other for a moment. The older one laughed heartily, and rose from his seat.

"Well done, well done!" He said cheerily as the boy stood. "It is good to know there are still powerful minds left in the world today."

The boy smiled wryly. "It's good to know there are still powerful minds left from the world of yesterday."

The man laughed again. "Too true; we are indeed a dying breed. I just hope you use your mind wisely, young man," he added seriously. "Too many are put to foul use, when there are so many ways they could be used to help better our grand nation."

"I can't make any promises, General Iroh. I'm not fit for ordering troops like you are."

"Nonsense! When you are older, and I am dead, there will be need of men like you. You may find yourself more fit for command than you think, Shikamaru."

Iroh motioned for the boy to follow him, and they walked down the street and into a flower shop. "In the meantime, would you be interested in a game of Pai Sho?"

**Author's Note:**

> This was an entry for [~NarutoxAvatarTLA](http://narutoxavatartla.deviantart.com/)'s Naruto vs. Avatar contest. I can't quite remember if they were going to allow prose entries, but I don't care. This was fun.
> 
> Tsumi is the equivalent of "checkmate" in shougi.
> 
> And, like an older fic, I combine the Naruto world and Avatar world, to make it so that Fire Country = Fire Nation. ~~sooooo original~~


End file.
